Around Preston

 I visited Tarleton on a sunny day in July, one of the few! The walk kind of filled in a gap between two previous walks. Two and a half years ago I walked along the River Douglas from Plox Brow to Douglas marina , and this walk started from Plox Blow and headed in the opposite direction. Plox is spelt "Plocks" on older maps, and takes its name, I think, from the big house on the other side of the river; there is now a pet food factory on the site. This is the view looking towards the Ribble Estuary, the route I took last time. Note the farmer unloading sheep! This is actually the Rufford branch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal - the river Douglas is just behind the trees. There is no proper tow path nowadays. instead you walk past some light industry, across a field and into some woods. The path across the field is obvious, but I walked straight past the way into the woods at first... Once you see it, the path is easy to follow, but brambles and stinging nettles made me choose my

Gisburn is some 40 minutes from Preston. Until 1974 in Yorkshire, it is now in Lancashire, so just about qualifies for "Around Preston". It has a population of between 500 and 600. It was spelled Gisburne, but when a railway was built here, the railway company apparently decided spelling it with an "e" would save them many hours (I am not sure how), and the spelling changed. It is mostly spread out along the A59, and we will start at the east end of the village. There are some fairly modern houses, mixed in quite tastefully with older, but the first of note in the Old Chapel. This was a Methodist church built in 1871, and closing in 1948. It is now housing and I suspect very much changed, though it still holds the name. There used to be a pub, the Commercial Hotel, to the left of the chapel, but no sign of it remains. The A682 heads north to Settle, and on the left of that road is St Mary's Church, while on its right the vicarage, which is an impressive building